Bitch Media - Ingrid Newkirkhttp://bitchmagazine.org/taxonomy/term/3456/0
enPeople for the Ethical Treatment of Obamahttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/people-for-the-ethical-treatment-of-obama
<p><a href="http://www.peta.org/">PETA</a> is in some hot water (again) for <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/01/06/business/AP-US-Michelle-Obama-PETA.html">using first lady Michelle Obama's image in one of their ads without her permission</a>. PETA pres <a href="http://www.ingridnewkirk.com/">Ingrid Newkirk</a> says they didn't get Obama's permission because, well, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/01/06/business/AP-US-Michelle-Obama-PETA.html">they knew she would have said no</a>. Since this is the same rationale I used when I "borrowed" my mom's car before I had a driver's license, I happen to know firsthand that the I-didn't-ask-because-you'd-say-no excuse doesn't work too well.</p>
<p>Says Newkirk, "The fact is that Michelle Obama has issued a statement indicating that she doesn't wear fur, and the world should know that in PETA's eyes, that makes her pretty fabulous."</p>
<p>Here's the ad:</p>
<p><center><img src="http://www.usmagazine.com/uploads/assets/articles/30438-white-house-peeved-michelle-obama-is-in-new-peta-ad/1262787120_peta-290.jpg" /></center></p>
<p>That's Oprah Winfrey, Carrie Underwood, and Tyra Banks in the ad with Obama (no word as to whether or not they gave their permission, which probably means that they did – or they just don't care enough to say anything). </p>
<p>Though this ad itself is pretty harmless (due in part to the fact that it just isn't very interesting), I for one am <a href="/search/node/PETA">sick and tired of PETA's bullshit campaign tactics</a>. If they aren't illegally using someone's image, they're <a href="/post/feminists-protest-peta-for-a-change">fat-shaming</a> everyone they can get their hands on, or <a href="/post/peta-is-a-bunch-of-bull">objectifying the crap out of various women</a> in order to peddle their message of respecting all life forms. I don't know about you, but it's just not working for this animal lover.</p>
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http://bitchmagazine.org/post/people-for-the-ethical-treatment-of-obama#commentsanimal rightsCarrie UnderwoodfurIngrid NewkirkMichelle ObamaOprah WinfreyPETApollSocial CommentaryWed, 06 Jan 2010 19:52:51 +0000Kelsey Wallace2703 at http://bitchmagazine.orgFeminists Protest PETA For a Changehttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/feminists-protest-peta-for-a-change
<p>Friend of <i>Bitch</i> (and Beaker Bitch blogger) <a href="/profile/sarah-mirk">Sarah Mirk</a> posted a great piece over at <a href="http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/BlogtownPDX/archives/2009/08/19/peta-vs-the-feminists">Blogtown PDX</a> yesterday on the new (and oh-so-unfortunate) <a href="http://www.feministing.com/archives/017289.html">PETA billboard</a> in Florida, and the subsequent protest of PETA President <a href="http://www.ingridnewkirk.com/">Ingrid Newkirk's</a> book signing at <a href="http://www.powells.com/">Powell's Books</a> here in Portland. The offending billboard: </p>
<p><center><img src="/sites/default/files/whales.jpg" width="500" height="149" alt="whales.jpg" /></center><center><i>Seriously, PETA? I think I've lost enough weight already barfing at your ad campaigns</i></center></p>
<p>On Tuesday evening, <a href="http://blogs.wweek.com/news/2008/10/29/these-demonstrators-give-planned-parenthood-some-love/">the Portland Feminist Action League</a> stood inside (and then outside <a href="http://blogs.wweek.com/news/2009/08/19/why-feminist-peta-protesters-got-kicked-out-of-powells/">once they were kicked out</a>) of Powell's and gave Ingrid Newkirk (and her fans) a piece of their minds.</p>
<p><center><img src="/sites/default/files/PETA_protesters.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="PETA_protesters.jpg" /></center><i><center>Image via wweek.media on flickr</center></i>Reports Mirk,<br />
<blockquote>The women sat quietly throughout Newkirk's 40-minute long presentation as she discussed the lives of whales and the pain crabs feel. After Newkirk wrapped up showing a video of cute animals set to Moby music and started signing books, the dozen feminists took to the front of the room, handing out fliers directing people to <a href="http://whatswrittenonmybody.blogspot.com/">[protest organizer] Fairchild's blog</a> and standing silently with brightly-colored signs like, "Misogyny is not cruelty free!" </blockquote></p>
<p>Check out Sarah Mirk's video of the protest (complete with cute-animals-set-to-Moby-montage):</p>
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/q0xYo73BICs&color1=0xe1600f&color2=0xfebd01&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/q0xYo73BICs&color1=0xe1600f&color2=0xfebd01&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><p>I don't know about you, but I have felt truly sickened by this recent PETA campaign (you know, just like I have felt truly sickened by so many past PETA campaigns). When will they wise up and realize that feminists could be great allies for them if only they'd stop offending us with their bullshit misogyny?!? <a href="/taxonomy/term/3052">Feminists love animals!</a> (Well, most of us do, anyway.) At any rate, I hope these protesters got a few messages across to PETA. Messages like "Stop fat-shaming women," "Stop disrespecting women," and "Cut it out with your mistreatment of women." What do you think?<b>Related posts:</b><a href="/post/peta-gets-the-onion-treatment">PETA Gets the Onion Treatment</a><a href="/post/peta-is-a-bunch-of-bull">PETA is a Bunch of Bull</a><a href="/post/feminism-and-animal-rights">Feminism and Animal Rights... A First Step</a></p>
http://bitchmagazine.org/post/feminists-protest-peta-for-a-change#commentsanimal rightsBlogtown PDXIngrid NewkirkPETAPowell's BooksprotestsSarah Mirkvideowweek.mediaSocial CommentaryThu, 20 Aug 2009 18:35:30 +0000Kelsey Wallace2051 at http://bitchmagazine.orgPETA is a Bunch of Bullhttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/peta-is-a-bunch-of-bull
<p><img src="http://www.runningofthenudes.com/photos/2012-image1-800.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="300" /></p>
<p><em>[The video originally in this post was removed from YouTube—the above is a photo from PETA's 2012 "Running of the Nudes."]</em></p>
<p>People think it's funny when I tell them I went vegetarian at 15 in order to impress a boy, and the hilarity continues when I confess that my veganism came about for the same reason five years later. What can I say? Sometimes feminists do silly things to prove their political dogmatism. A year after I broke up with Vegan Boy, I read <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0826411843?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=feminrevie-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=0826411843"><em>The Sexual Politics of Meat</em></a><em></em>. I was wavering in my commitment to a cruelty-free lifestyle and needed a feminist kick in the pants--and I got just what I was looking for.</p>
<p>Late this year Carol Adams' groundbreaking work will be re-released, twenty years after it first made waves in feminist and animal rights circles. It's unfortunate that such a smart critique (albeit not entirely trouble-free) has been ignored or dismissed over and over again by PETA's co-founder and president Ingrid Newkirk. The media savvy Newkirk knows just how to get attention: by having people (usually women) take their clothes off in public. Its current T&amp;A campaign entitled <a href="http://www.runningofthenudes.com/">Running of the Nudes: Out With the Old--In With the Nude</a> intends to protest the Running of the Bulls during the annual festival of San Fermín in Pamplona, Spain on July 6th-14th. Getting an early start to this year's Running of the Bulls protests, PETA held a sit-in yesterday in opposition to today's bullfights at the trocadero in Paris. Yes, there were naked women.</p>
<p>Mostly, I just think this tactic is tired. I'm over PETA using nakedness in general, and naked women in particular (in addition to <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/feb/12/race-animal-welfare">other shortsighted and offensive theatrics</a>), in order to get its message across. It's clear when you watch PETA's videos of the "nude news conferences" that the vast majority of the people paying these naked ladies any mind are men. But it's <em>not</em> clear if anyone really gives a hoot about anything but their hooters. Most community organizers can tell you that an action isn't worth repeating unless you can prove you've gotten the desired outcome. So where, pray tell, are PETA's factsheets on their own effectiveness? Buzz is just chatter if you've nothing to show for it.</p>
<p>I think I'll send Newkirk a copy of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0826411843?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=feminrevie-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=0826411843"><em>The Sexual Politics of Meat</em></a><em></em> once it's re-released. Better yet, perhaps I can facilitate a conversation between the two. Who'd like to see Newkirk square off with Adams? It'd make a pretty fabulous media event, don't ya think?</p>
<p>Photo by Patrick Kovarik</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> In the few hours since this post went live, I came across something even more disturbing: Che Guevara's 24-year-old grand-daughter has apparently <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2009/06/che-guevaras-granddaughter-partners-with-peta-viva-la-veggie-revolution.html">teamed up with PETA</a> to do a nude ad <a href="http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2009/06/18/gentes/1245324167.html">using Che's legacy as, um, inspiration</a>--though it comes across more like a mockery to me. Can you imagine what this Argentine Marxist revolutionary would say about his iconic image being used to inspire people to "join the vegetarian revolution" with a picture of his naked heir in a carrot-filled ammunition belt and a military beret?! How revolting!</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> Just one day later <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE55H4Z220090618">this story</a> about PETA's response to the fly "execution". And I'm not even seeking this sh*t out!</p>
http://bitchmagazine.org/post/peta-is-a-bunch-of-bull#commentsanimal rightsCarol AdamsIngrid NewkirkobjectificationPETAThe Sexual Politics of MeatSocial CommentaryThu, 18 Jun 2009 18:32:19 +0000Mandy Van Deven1786 at http://bitchmagazine.org